69 gts restoration

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Well after much buying and spending and more spending and more buying. I have offically put the project on hold untill probably next spring. I will still be working on it just not spending any money. The problem is I was not the person that took the car apart and so I don't have all the bolts and other hardware to put the darn thing together. Every turn and I know others have felt this pain and you need another screw or clip or whatever it might be.

So rather than rush the car and have it turn out like garbage and something that I wouldn't be happy to drive I decided to slow down on the build and just worry about getting on the road for next spring.

The good news is now I will be able to save up for a posi rather than the open diff 8 3/4 it has now.. :cheers:

I have also found more spots that need to be repainted in the engine compartment from notoriously bad prep before paint. I will take care of all that before the ugly white stuff and then concetrate on stuff to do in the basement (ie. rebuild tranny, reardiff, maybe the radio who knows if something comes apart I will rebuild and restore it..)

I will keep everyone posted and probably do some more step by steps for the rear diff and tranny..
 
dartgts340 said:
Well after much buying and spending and more spending and more buying. I have offically put the project on hold untill probably next spring. I will still be working on it just not spending any money. The problem is I was not the person that took the car apart and so I don't have all the bolts and other hardware to put the darn thing together. Every turn and I know others have felt this pain and you need another screw or clip or whatever it might be.

So rather than rush the car and have it turn out like garbage and something that I wouldn't be happy to drive I decided to slow down on the build and just worry about getting on the road for next spring.

The good news is now I will be able to save up for a posi rather than the open diff 8 3/4 it has now.. :cheers:

I have also found more spots that need to be repainted in the engine compartment from notoriously bad prep before paint. I will take care of all that before the ugly white stuff and then concetrate on stuff to do in the basement (ie. rebuild tranny, reardiff, maybe the radio who knows if something comes apart I will rebuild and restore it..)

I will keep everyone posted and probably do some more step by steps for the rear diff and tranny..
Click to expand...


seems like the thing to do, do it once and do it right:cheers: and please keep the updates coming, as your a wealth of information:read2:.

Mark
 
Well everyone.. I haven't posted in quite a while sorry to anyone following. I have been very discouraged beside 20" of snow will hinder any progress. I have however started to tear into my tranny even though it only has 50k on it. So far everything looks good. I will start posting pictures soon on the rebuild including the shifter assy. Won't be long before spring is here and really want to get the car on the road. List of things to do is getting shorter. :)
 
Well this weekend was a productive one. I know that I haven't post for almost a year on the restoration but progress has been very slow. Waiting for parts to show up ordering more parts and then ordering more parts. The good news is that in a week the engine goes in and I can finally say that the car is complete. You notice that I said complete not done. You are never really done a restoration just at different stages of finished. Here are a couple of pictures she looks really good and can't wait to take her for a rip. :thumrigh:
 

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Same colors I am going with.. Looks sweeet.. I cant wait to get mine painted...
 
Well it has been a very long time since I have posted on the project not for lack of wanting but for lack of progress. Well I now have a lot of progress to let everyone know about.

First K frame is complete and ready to go back into the car and as the title states just had the engine on the dyno today.

Well first the K frame took a lot longer to get look right than I expected about 3 weeks. The engine has been in process for the better part of 2 years because of lack of time and money. My brother built the engine and let me tell you it was worth the wait. He will never admit it but he really is an amazing engine builder and also I would like to thank PK machine who did the dyno tune he is a really stand up guy.

The next step is to touch up the motor and paint the water pump then in about 2 weeks the engine and the k frame go in together. I can't wait I haven't driven the car since 1992. Well here is a pic of the k frame and also the graph of the final dyno run 363.5ft/lbs torque at 3500rpm and 323.7 HP at 5200rpm

The engine is bone stock accept for srp pistons and eagle conecting rods, it also has a little and I mean a little bit of a cam not sure lift and duration. The pull just to let everyone know was done with an edelbrock 650 and through the exhaust that the car will be using and tuned to run like a champ.

Without further ado here are the pictures.
 

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Car looks outstanding! Thats a strong running engine too for what it is. Should be a ton of fun to drive...
 
Should be a fun car.. The only thing that really needs to be done is I have to get rid of the open diff. Crazy that a GTS would come open diff.. I do believe that needs to change sorry to all the purists but having traction is a good thing..
 
Well the motor found it's home after only 20 years. I tell you what a stressfull 2 hours putting it in. I actually dropped the car on the motor rather than putting it in from the top. I would suggest if anyone is restoring the front end and k-frame that when they go to put the whole thing together that they do it this way. 2 hours including putting the motor on the k-frame moving it to the motor cycle jack and putting the car down on it and bolting it up. Also no worries about chipping paint or hitting firewall.. The rig is actually really simple. I took 3 pieces of 2" x 1/4"thick box tubing welded it together and mounted it to the holes for the bumpers. I have included a couple of pictures if any0one is interested.

After putting the motor in with the motorcycle jack it was not as great an idea as was once hoped. If I had to do it again I would use dollies and build a frame to hold the k-frame and addan extension for the transmission.

What ended up happening (fortunately nothing damaged) was the motor and k-frame shifted on the jack causing some tense moments. All and all though went without a hitch.
 

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beautiful job on a terrific car, those gts are some of my all time favorite autos.
 
Thanks all. I agree the GTS is definitely one of my favorite mopars. I got really lucky with the color combo never actually seen a GTS with this color B5 with Black top strip and gut. Most I have seen have a white top or white gut. Probably not rare just like the way it looks. Actually doesn't matter if it is rare I like it and that is what really matters. Can't wait to sit behind the wheel again. I really appreciate the comments it spurs me on to finish the car... Couple of weeks it will be on the road. I might trailer it to E-town for the Nats down there not quite sure yet..
 
Congratulations!
Awesome work!

The color combo is just great, love that shade of blue, as well as the black top and interior (not a fan of "light coloured" interiors).
And great thread by the way, those instructions on the rear side windows are fantastic!
 
Thanks for the kind words. This weekend I will be finishing up the wiring and hopefully with any luck turn the key for the first time in many years..
 
The car is finally registered!!!!!!:burnout:

After a very long wait at the MA RMV I finally have a sticker in hand.. I went with a YOM (year of Manufacture) plate rather than regular registration. We will see how that works out because I plan on driving the crap out of this thing..

Now the only things left to do is replace the wiper motor (that is in hand) wire the Fender mount blinkers (wires on the way), Hook up the fuel line to the tank and chase a couple of electrical problems mainly cleaning contacts. Then trailer it to the alignment shop and drive it home. First car show should be Sept 8th at the Orange Drag race reunion.. Anyone else thinking about going to this? It is at the Fitchburg MA airport only cars pre 74 allowed and last year was an incredible show out in Orange MA they actually had to start turning people and cars away for lack of room. They estimate about 10,000 or more people showed up. Darn good showing for an off the beaten path town. The move was due to of all things a solar farm...

Either way as things go shouldn't be long before driving..:toothy8:
 
Well for those who are still following the thread. The first startup in the car happend today. It took a little time to get the fuel to the carb but eventually it happend. The engine started fine and ran pretty well for not being warmed up and no choke. As it got heat in the motor it ran great.. there was only one problem that I never expected. The damn heater core is leaking got antifreeze in the car and on the carpet not a lot just enough to piss you off if you know what I mean. If the core was the original core I would expect something like this but the darn thing is brand new all be it a year old but brand new never had fluid in it or pressure until today.. So this will set me back until I can get a heater core.. For the mean time until I get it I am going to bypass it so that I can get it alligned and possibly go to the drag race reunion on Sat I will have to see how I feel about the whole thing then. I will update when I get the heater box out not that I am looking forward to that. With the dash out it is a piece of cake with it in not so much and now that the core has fluid in it I need to be really careful to not get any more in the car.:banghead:

Well you know what they say "The last mile is always the longest."
 
Well today was a good day.. It only took about 4 hours to bleed the brakes!!! Has anyone else had a brake bleed take that long? I guess I am not that surprised all new lines new wheel cylinders and new master all dry so it takes a while to mighty vac the thing... Pedal is still a little soft but think after I adjust the drums a bit I think it should come up.. Either way missed the drag race reunion but still got a lot accomplished so not that disappointed.

Next, take it for the alignment that it desperately needs.

Just a little update for those that are following this spotty thread.
 
Well I can finally say after 20 years that I have driven the GTS again. This past weekend my wife and the mistress (ie. the dodge) went on a poker run. For the first cruise it was about 130miles or so and the car behaved quite well.. There are some small things that need to be addressed but other than that things went quite well.

Good things..

She goes like a bat out of hell.
Rides really nice
Goes straight
Stops

Bad Things..
No speedo (cable broke after saying hello to the exhaust)
Water pump leaking (turned out that the bolts needed to be re torqued)
Power steering gear leaking (dried out seals seal conditioner fixed that)
Hard hot starting (fuel in bowls boiling. ordered phenolic spacer)

All in all not a horrible shake down run..

Here are some pictures of the finished car. Thank you to the FABO community for all the help in getting the stuff needed and answering any stupid questions that I have had. Hope somewhere along the way I might be able to return the favor to someone else.
 

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Very nice and congrats on finishing the car! Any interior pics?
 
Turned out beautiful! I really love the look with the painted steelies. Congrats on getting her finished up.

Grant
 
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